


Dog Tags

by celticheart72



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Complete, Emotions, F/M, Internal Monologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-23 23:29:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21328459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celticheart72/pseuds/celticheart72
Summary: The feel of the raised letters of his dog tags against your skin reminds you who he was and why you continue on each day without him.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 72





	Dog Tags

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Athena83](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athena83/gifts), [BigBandBombshell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigBandBombshell/gifts).

> This ficlet was inspired by a Tumblr post about Bucky's dogs tags and my own emotional attachment to a set of them.

Using the side of your balled-up fist you wiped away the condensation accumulated on the bathroom mirror. Gripping the sides of the sink, you stared at yourself through the streaks you made in the glass. Automatically your eyes dropped to the dog tags hanging around your neck.

They hadn’t left your body in seventy-five years.

Your fingers lifted to run over the raised letters at the top of the tag. His name. 

In all the years since he’d been gone anytime you needed any reassurance you ran your fingers over his name and his words came back to you.

“I’ll always be with you, doll.”

It hadn’t quite been how he meant it. He had every intention of coming back to you after the war. At the time it had been a way to reassure you that just because he wasn’t standing by your side didn’t mean he wasn’t there.

He was always in your heart.

No one really understood how you felt about the dog tags. They were a means to identify a soldier who had been killed in action. But, for you they were so much more than that.

There were a few things of his, favorite things, that you’d kept. Keepsakes with specific memories attached.

His tags weren’t about the memories. They were a reminder of the things he stood for.

The man you loved was good and true. Standing up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. Believing that doing the right thing meant more than doing the easy thing. Being honest even when it was hard. Letting you see his sensitive side. Being faithful when the soldiers around him weren’t. Those were only a few of the things that made him who he was. 

When they searched for him all they found were his dog tags. Steve gave them to you. Then he went into the ice and was lost too.

He came back but Bucky didn’t.

You never blamed Steve. He blamed himself.

When he came back and saw you for the first time, he was shocked. You hadn’t aged. Not for the same reason he hadn’t. That was something you’d hidden from everyone but Bucky. But coming face to face with you, his best friend’s girl, looking the same as you did the day he handed you Bucky’s dog tags was a hard pill for the super soldier to swallow. Especially when his love, Peggy, was nearing her death bed.

He didn’t blame you. Still, he blamed himself.

Sighing you ran your fingers over his name again. James B Barnes.

James Buchanan Barnes.

The feeling of those letters under your fingertips gave you the strength to do it all over again for another day.

Every day was one more day you knew he’d want you to live. You kept doing it for him.

A soft knock sounded at the door of your quarters. You dropped the cold metal of the dog tags inside your shirt and pressed your hand over them until you felt the letters in your skin.

He’d been right.

Bucky was always with you.

Not bothering with your boots, since you were sure it was just one of the team trying to coax you down to breakfast, you padded barefoot to the door. When you opened it, you felt like the entire world fell away from you.

He looked different. His face was scruffy and his hair long. The hand of his left arm appeared to be metal.

You reached a hand up to cup his cheek, your fingertips needing the contact to verify he was real. Bucky closed those blue eyes you’d never forgotten and leaned into your touch.

The two of you stood there a moment like that. Him nuzzling your hand. You staring, in utter disbelief, at a man you believed dead for seventy-five long years. As much of a shock as it was you also knew how very possible it was for him to be standing there.

Without thinking your other hand pressed the dog tags under your shirt into your skin.

When his eyes opened again and focused on yours, he smiled. “Hi doll.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my work kudos are appreciated. If you love it comments are wonderful. If you have constructive criticism or questions let's talk. If you leave blatantly rude or negative comments, know that no hate is allowed here and will be deleted. And if you read my work and are too shy to interact right now, know that's okay too.
> 
> Just a general A/N regarding all of my work: Please understand that I update when writing inspiration hits. I never intend on abandoning an unfinished fic, so know that if I do I'll eventually get back to it when inspiration strikes again.


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